Bob Armstrong
03-13-2009, 01:31 PM
Today I filed with the CFC Secretary, Lyle Craver, 2 motions to amend the CFC Handbook, to legitimize the long-standing practice in Ontario of having CFC Govenors elected by the regions. The Handbook does not currently allow for this. It is basically a " house-keeping " type of motion.
Here are the motions/commentary:
2 Motions on CFC Handbook Amendments Dealing with Regionalization of Election of CFC Governors
( initiated by CFC Life Member, Bob Armstrong; commentary by Bob Armstrong; submitted with the consents of the mover/seconder )
Motion # 1 : Moved: Ilia Bluvshtein; Seconded: Michael von Keitz .
- that section 5 of CFC Bylaw 1. dealing with “ Ordinary Membership “, Section 2 of the CFC Handbook, is amended by adding after the words “ the assembly of governors “, the following:
-
“ ( see CFC Rules and Regulations, Article 1, Section 9 ) “.
Commentary: The new section 5 as amended will read:
CFC Bylaw 1
ORDINARY MEMBERSHIP
5. Any person, ordinarily resident in Canada , may become an Ordinary Member of the Federation, for the then-current fiscal year, upon payment of the Membership per Capita Fee, directly to the Federation, or through his Provincial Organization. Every Ordinary or Life Member has a right to vote on the appointment or election of the Governor or Governors who will represent his Provincial Organization. Every Ordinary or Life Member has a right to vote on the appointment or election of the Governor or Governors who will represent his Provincial Organization at the assembly of Governors ( see CFC Rules and Regulations, Article 1, Section 9 ), but shall not be entitled to vote under any other circumstances unless specifically provided in these by-laws.
This amendment, referring to section 9 of Article 1 of the CFC Rules and Regulations, is necessary to have this section not conflict with the new amended section 9. Currently the old section requires that each CFC member is allowed to vote for ALL provincial CFC Governors for that province. This amendment makes it clear that a province will be able to restrict its CFC members to only voting for CFC governors for their provincial region, if the province is so divided.
Note that this amendment is considered a constitutional amendment under Bylaw # 3 of the CFC, section 3, which is:
BY-LAW NUMBER THREE OF THE CHESS FEDERATION OF CANADA
ANNUAL MEETING AND AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
1. ….
2. All matters to be decided by the Assembly, shall be decided by a majority vote, save as hereinafter provided.
3. Any amendment or revision of these By-Laws; any matter pertaining to any international agreement between the Federation and any international or foreign Chess Federation or Association; and any matter pertaining to the payment of dues to the Fédération International des Echecs may be made,
(a) at any Annual Meeting of the Assembly, providing that a notice of intention to submit such matter to a vote has been received by the Secretary at least 30 days prior to the date of such Annual Meeting and has been transmitted by the Secretary to each Governor at least 14 days prior to the date of such Annual Meeting and that any resolution pertaining to such matter shall be approved by at least a two-thirds majority of the votes of those present and entitled to vote, including proxy votes.
(b) at any time through a mail vote of Assembly, providing that the exact wording of such proposed amendments or revision, or of the resolution to be passed by the Board through mail vote is submitted to each Governor at least fourteen days before the expiry of the time limit specified by the President for the receipt of the votes by the Secretary, and that at least one-half of the number of votes eligible to be cast has been received by the Secretary, and there is a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes cast in favour of the proposed amendment or revision or resolution.
Motion # 2: Moved: Ilia Bluvshtein; seconded: Michael von Keitz ;
- that section 9 of the Article 1 of the CFC Rules and Regulations, section 2 of the CFC Handbook, is amended by adding at the end the sentence:
“ However, should the Provincial Organization see fit, it can devolve the holding of meetings to regional affiliates, and restrict the Federation Members to voting only for the CFC Governors allocated to that particular region. “
Commentary: The new section 9 as amended will read:
CFC Rules and Regulations, Article 1
SELECTION OF GOVERNORS BY PROVINCIAL ORGANIZATION
9. As soon as possible after the receipt by a Provincial Organization of the aforementioned Certificate, such body will convene a meeting of its Federation Members for the purpose of electing its necessary number of nominees for the Board for the ensuing term. However, should the Provincial Organization see fit, it can devolve the holding of meetings to regional affiliates, and restrict the Federation Members to voting only for the CFC Governors allocated to that particular region.
Each CFC member has the unrestricted right to vote for ALL CFC Governors for that Province. That is the interpretation given to the CFC Handbook sections by CFC and by the provinces of B.C., N.S, and N.B ( We are not aware of the interpretation of other provinces )..
But what is appropriate for provinces with fewer members, is not appropriate for a large province like Ontario which has many CFC members spread throughout the province. To make the system of CFC Governor election more effective, Ontario has used the concept of localizing the election of CFC Governors into geographic regions. CFC Members often do not know those standing for Governors in other regions, and their vote in that regard would be uninformed. But each member can know those running for governorship in their own region of the Province. So it is beneficial for a CFC member in Ontario to have his vote RESTRICTED to those CFC Governors from his own region. And this system could be applicable to any other province/territory, if they wished to regionalize as well.
The problem is that the CFC Handbook as currently written does not give the Provincial Organizations the power to restrict the CFC member governor vote in this way. An amendment of the CFC Handbook is therefore required for this. The amendments will then legitimize the current Ontario CFC Governor election system. And it will make such a system available to any other province/territory interested in such a regime.
Revision 2, Feb. 10, 2009
Bob
Here are the motions/commentary:
2 Motions on CFC Handbook Amendments Dealing with Regionalization of Election of CFC Governors
( initiated by CFC Life Member, Bob Armstrong; commentary by Bob Armstrong; submitted with the consents of the mover/seconder )
Motion # 1 : Moved: Ilia Bluvshtein; Seconded: Michael von Keitz .
- that section 5 of CFC Bylaw 1. dealing with “ Ordinary Membership “, Section 2 of the CFC Handbook, is amended by adding after the words “ the assembly of governors “, the following:
-
“ ( see CFC Rules and Regulations, Article 1, Section 9 ) “.
Commentary: The new section 5 as amended will read:
CFC Bylaw 1
ORDINARY MEMBERSHIP
5. Any person, ordinarily resident in Canada , may become an Ordinary Member of the Federation, for the then-current fiscal year, upon payment of the Membership per Capita Fee, directly to the Federation, or through his Provincial Organization. Every Ordinary or Life Member has a right to vote on the appointment or election of the Governor or Governors who will represent his Provincial Organization. Every Ordinary or Life Member has a right to vote on the appointment or election of the Governor or Governors who will represent his Provincial Organization at the assembly of Governors ( see CFC Rules and Regulations, Article 1, Section 9 ), but shall not be entitled to vote under any other circumstances unless specifically provided in these by-laws.
This amendment, referring to section 9 of Article 1 of the CFC Rules and Regulations, is necessary to have this section not conflict with the new amended section 9. Currently the old section requires that each CFC member is allowed to vote for ALL provincial CFC Governors for that province. This amendment makes it clear that a province will be able to restrict its CFC members to only voting for CFC governors for their provincial region, if the province is so divided.
Note that this amendment is considered a constitutional amendment under Bylaw # 3 of the CFC, section 3, which is:
BY-LAW NUMBER THREE OF THE CHESS FEDERATION OF CANADA
ANNUAL MEETING AND AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
1. ….
2. All matters to be decided by the Assembly, shall be decided by a majority vote, save as hereinafter provided.
3. Any amendment or revision of these By-Laws; any matter pertaining to any international agreement between the Federation and any international or foreign Chess Federation or Association; and any matter pertaining to the payment of dues to the Fédération International des Echecs may be made,
(a) at any Annual Meeting of the Assembly, providing that a notice of intention to submit such matter to a vote has been received by the Secretary at least 30 days prior to the date of such Annual Meeting and has been transmitted by the Secretary to each Governor at least 14 days prior to the date of such Annual Meeting and that any resolution pertaining to such matter shall be approved by at least a two-thirds majority of the votes of those present and entitled to vote, including proxy votes.
(b) at any time through a mail vote of Assembly, providing that the exact wording of such proposed amendments or revision, or of the resolution to be passed by the Board through mail vote is submitted to each Governor at least fourteen days before the expiry of the time limit specified by the President for the receipt of the votes by the Secretary, and that at least one-half of the number of votes eligible to be cast has been received by the Secretary, and there is a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes cast in favour of the proposed amendment or revision or resolution.
Motion # 2: Moved: Ilia Bluvshtein; seconded: Michael von Keitz ;
- that section 9 of the Article 1 of the CFC Rules and Regulations, section 2 of the CFC Handbook, is amended by adding at the end the sentence:
“ However, should the Provincial Organization see fit, it can devolve the holding of meetings to regional affiliates, and restrict the Federation Members to voting only for the CFC Governors allocated to that particular region. “
Commentary: The new section 9 as amended will read:
CFC Rules and Regulations, Article 1
SELECTION OF GOVERNORS BY PROVINCIAL ORGANIZATION
9. As soon as possible after the receipt by a Provincial Organization of the aforementioned Certificate, such body will convene a meeting of its Federation Members for the purpose of electing its necessary number of nominees for the Board for the ensuing term. However, should the Provincial Organization see fit, it can devolve the holding of meetings to regional affiliates, and restrict the Federation Members to voting only for the CFC Governors allocated to that particular region.
Each CFC member has the unrestricted right to vote for ALL CFC Governors for that Province. That is the interpretation given to the CFC Handbook sections by CFC and by the provinces of B.C., N.S, and N.B ( We are not aware of the interpretation of other provinces )..
But what is appropriate for provinces with fewer members, is not appropriate for a large province like Ontario which has many CFC members spread throughout the province. To make the system of CFC Governor election more effective, Ontario has used the concept of localizing the election of CFC Governors into geographic regions. CFC Members often do not know those standing for Governors in other regions, and their vote in that regard would be uninformed. But each member can know those running for governorship in their own region of the Province. So it is beneficial for a CFC member in Ontario to have his vote RESTRICTED to those CFC Governors from his own region. And this system could be applicable to any other province/territory, if they wished to regionalize as well.
The problem is that the CFC Handbook as currently written does not give the Provincial Organizations the power to restrict the CFC member governor vote in this way. An amendment of the CFC Handbook is therefore required for this. The amendments will then legitimize the current Ontario CFC Governor election system. And it will make such a system available to any other province/territory interested in such a regime.
Revision 2, Feb. 10, 2009
Bob